Welcome to the Arcade
by NvInfinitium
Summary: The Arcade is a dangerous, colorful game that will shatter any noob who enters it into insignificant little pixels. Ruled by the infamous and elusive Final Boss's iron grasp, three brave heroes enter, hoping to beat the game. But can you really beat the impossible? Welcome to the Arcade. Video game/mmo au based on arcade skin line.
1. Chapter 1: Welcome to the Game

Riven was impossibly bored.

She didn't think she could even get this bored. And she has been feeling like this a lot lately. Much more than she would like to be, not really to say she ever _likes_ being bored.

But there simply isn't much for her to do anymore. She hadn't been called for any matches in a long time, as the summoners have stated that she is 'weak' right now when compared to other champions in her role.

She had to scoff at that though. In her opinion, the summoners simply did not know how to use her skills and had to resort to 'easier' champions to get results.

At any rate, there has not been much for her to do to kill time while in between the occasional matches that she _was_ called for.

Of course she could always go exercise in the Institute's training hall. But that's only an option when it's not already full.

In fact, when she had checked the training room this morning before going for breakfast, it has been packed. And it would surely be even more so right now, since most matches were concluding for the day. Other champions would be there to get in extra training for tomorrow's matches, and she didn't particularly want to go into a crowded, sweaty training hall.

And as she thought about how limited her options were to entertain herself, she groaned and fell onto her bed. Maybe she will just take a nap to pass the time.

Except...as she quickly found out, she isn't very tired.

Groaning once again, she sat up in the bed. Maybe she can go for an evening hike in the woods outside the Institute. She wasn't much a nature lover, but hey, it was better than sitting around until she went to sleep.

But before she could place further thought on a hike, a knock on the door drew her out of her musing. A hope lit up in her. Maybe it was a summoner coming to summon her for a late night match.

No, that couldn't be it. The summoners can simply summoner her from anywhere. They don't need to physically come to her door for it. Still, she could hope, couldn't she?

She got up to open the door, not really knowing who or what to expect would be there. But as she opened the door, she realized that she definitely did not expect to see a similarly bored looking Miss Fortune and a giddy Sona standing in front of it.

"Uh, hi?" she started, not really knowing what to say to them, "Can I help you guys with something?"

She had no clue why they would be at her door. She wasn't even close to either of them. Not at all. Hell, she barely even sees them in matches nowadays.

But Sona simply smiled at her and waved, while Miss Fortune responded for both of them.

"Hey, Riven. I, well, _we_ have a proposition for you." She waited for Riven respond.

"Okay...go on."

"I know it's a little out of the blue, but I'm sure that you'll enjoy it. Anyways, we need someone for a game that we play, and Sona has noticed that you've been bored lately, what with you not being called for matches as much anymore. And Sona also thinks you'll be perfect for what we exactly need, and I agree. So we figure that it would be a win-win situation if you were to join us. You would have something to do to occupy yourself with, and effectively kill your boredom, and we would have a party member for the things we want to do in this game. Sound good?"

But Riven was confused at Miss Fortune's proposal. She didn't have a clue what game Miss Fortune was talking about, let alone what she would exactly be signing up for. And as such, she was a bit hesitant at saying yes.

"What do you mean you need a party member for a game. What game is it, and why do you think I would be perfect for...whatever it is you think I'd be perfect for?" She questioned.

"Well we think you're perfect because...you would be...erm," Miss Fortune frowned, obviously struggling with explaining what they needed. "How can I explain this in concepts that you would know? Hmm. Here, just come with us. I think it will be easier to explain by just showing you what we need and what you would be doing than telling you. After all, actions speak louder than words, right?"

She then looked over at Sona. "I have that extra rig in my room that you use as backup, for her to use. So you can go log on at your place, and I'll get her set up at mine."

However, Sona shook her head and made a little gesture with her fingers in response. Riven noticed that she was making a little walking person gesture with her index and middle fingers. She didn't understand what that meant exactly, but apparently Miss Fortune understood Sona.

"Oh, ok. That works too. Well, go get your stuff then."

Riven decided to voice her confusion, wanted to understand what they were talking about.

"What did she say? And what do you mean by log on and all the other stuff you're talking about?"

"Sona said that will get her stuff and join us at my place. She thinks it will be funner that way," MF translated.

"Really? You got all that from that little gesture? How?" Riven questioned, astonished by MF's read.

"More or less. And it's because we've been partners so long, that I've grown to understand her little nuances. Anyways, as for the rest of your questions go, I'll explain on the way to my dorm. So follow me."

Miss Fortune started walking down the hallway, towards the dorms were the Bilgewater denizens stayed whenever they were in the Institute of War. Riven followed her, hoping to sate her curiosity.

As she left, she noticed Sona waving at them, probably saying goodbye, and then going down the hall to what Riven presumed was her own quarters.

"So, I'll start with the basics," Miss Fortune started. "As you know, me and Sona never really get picked for matches anymore, like you. So we decided to find something to do so that we wouldn't be bored out of our minds, also like you probably feel. Along the lines, we eventually found arcade games."

"Arcade games? What are those?" Riven asked. She didn't know what these, 'arcade games' were. She has never heard of them, though she was never one to use or pay attention to most modern technologies and inventions, preferring more traditional means of entertainment. Like killing things. That was always fun.

"Right, you don't know what they are. Hmm, well I guess the best way to explain them is that they are these inventions from Piltover and Zaun that allow you to play games on a screen. Kinda like watching shows on a hexavision. Or better yet, they are like playing board games on a hexavision. Have you ever played Caves and Chimeras? This game is like that. Kinda."

She hoped Riven understood that much, as she did notice the warrior having a hexavision in her living room, and Caves and Chimeras was a popular board game in the past.

Riven's brow furrowed in thought regarding MF's words. She _has_ heard of Caves and Chimeras before. It was some kind of role playing game, or something, that the other kids around her would play in Noxus. She had never played it, as she entered military service at a young age, and never bothered to join in with her fellow soldiers on their breaks. She had always just focused on improving herself and getting physically stronger.

But she kinda understood what Miss Fortune was talking about though. Not fully yet,but getting there. She assumed this was one of the things Miss Fortune told her she would understand when she saw it.

"Yeah, I have heard of CnC. So this game is like a role playing game that can play on a hexavision screen. Is that what you want me to join you in?"

"Yeah...well no. That's kind of what arcade games are like. But this game, Neon Rush-or as we like to call it, The Arcade-it's is even better than that. It allows us to actually go inside the game, and play through it as if it is real."

"Oh, that's pretty interesting. So, this is what you need me for?" Riven was starting to catch up now.

"Yup. This game is multiplayer, and anyone on it can join together to make a guild, which is what we want to do. But we need at least four people to create one, and we only have three at the moment.

"Three? Who's the third"

"Oh, Hecarim plays with us every now and then." Riven was curious how he became a party member, but didn't question it. "And as I mentioned before, Sona thinks you would be perfect for our fourth. You're fighting preference would prove to be useful in battles in the game. You and Hec can be our frontline melee fighters while me and Sona form the back line." Miss Fortune continued.

"Oh, that makes sense."

"Good, and we're here now too." Miss Fortune announced, stopping in front of her doorway. She opened the door for them and allowed Riven to walk in.

"Welcome to my humble abode. Feel free to explore or whatever. Just don't break anything. I'm going to start setting up everything for you while we wait for Sona to get here with her stuff."

As MF walked deeper into the dormitory, Riven decided to look around Miss Fortune's dorm was pretty basic, though. It didn't deviate from most starting dorms much, staying practically unchanged except for a few Bilgewater decals on the walls. Riven saw multiple guns and hats lining the walls, showing MF's nautical heritage through the room.

However, there was one major difference in the living room. A mass of cords connected to a station with some forms of helmets attached to it. Miss Fortune was doing something to one of the two helmets Riven saw, most likely setting it up for Riven.

Riven went to set up for a closer examination, but she found that she did not have a clue what anything was. She never really had a penchant for technology, growing up as a poor kid in a traditional and militaristic Noxus. Thinking about it, she wondered how Miss Fortune was so adept at...whatever she was doing to the helmet. After all, Bilgewater wasn't that much more advanced than Noxus in technology. And Riven highly doubt MF spent her childhood surrounded by technology.

But then again, Riven would never, for the life of her, be able to fire a gun like Miss Fortune could, _even_ if they were the primitive ones from the pirate city-state (well, primitive compared to guns and other weaponry of Zaun and Piltover). As such, Miss Fortune had to have some idea of how to use technology, if only slightly more so than Riven.

"Okay, all done. Now then, are you ready to experience the best thing ever?" Miss Fortune questioned, bringing Riven back to the present.

But Riven didn't really think she was ready. After all, she had no prior experience with complex technology-aside from figuring out how to change channels on a hexavision, which had taken her hours to do- and she still didn't know what she would actually be doing.

Hell, she probably would have not even came this far, had Miss Fortune not convinced her that this would cure her boredom. But she was here now, and didn't truly have anything to lose from saying yes. Well, at least she hopes she doesn't...

"Yeah, I guess I'm as ready as I can be with what you have told me. Though, I still don't know what this machine does or how to use it really." Riven replied, pointing at the headset and it's connected machine.

"Ah, right. So this machine is what allows us to enter the game. These headsets, once we put and turn them on, will connect our minds with the game somehow, allowing us to enter it. By the way, we'll wait for Sona to get here before entering, but I'll show you how to use it now."

Just as she said, Miss Fortune guided Riven through the process of using the machine as they waited, and helped her set up. And soon enough after, Sona arrived with equipment in arms. And with little delay for Sona to set up, they were finally finished.

"Alright, are you ready, Riven?" Miss Fortune asked.

"Uh, as ready as I'll ever be I guess."

"Great! Let's go!"

Riven, remembering Miss Fortune's earlier instructions on how to do so, activated her headset, which Miss Fortune had called a rig.

Suddenly, as the machine gave a little beep, her vision distorted and darkened, as if she was being plunged underwater. She didn't know if she had lapsed out of conscious, but the next thing she knew was that she was in some bright and colorful place. Blinking, she tried to adjust to the new environment.

As she took a moment to look around, she noticed that she was in some kind of dense forest. But it was completely different from any kind of forest she ever knew. Everything looked like it was made up of thousands of tiny, colorful squares. She examined the ground underneath her and found that was the same way.

It was all a bit disturbing to her, yet somehow interesting. It was almost like she was in some kind of children's dream, if a kid was hyped up on hundreds of pounds of sugar, or worse, one of Lulu's 'purple' fantasies. She shivered at the thought. That little yordle must be on something...

But she didn't get to muse on the thought much longer though, as Miss Fortune and Sona had materialized right in front of her. She wasn't too bothered by their sudden teleportation, as it happened on the Rift all the time. But what did surprise her was their vibrant outfits and weaponry.

With Miss Fortune in her floppy pink striped hat and headphones, and Sona in her star adorned dress, they were quite comical to Riven. She even had to hold back laughter at how ridiculous they looked.

"What are you two _wearing_?" She questioned with a barely contained chuckle. "...You guys look like you took a bath in a rainbow, and stole its color."

"Hey! I happen to like this outfit. It fits me," Miss Fortune defended her precious outfit, emphasizing the action with hands on hips.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to offend you or anything. But I'm just saying that your clothing is a little... _odd_ and...overly whimsical. It's nice I guess, just really, _really_ colorful," Riven returned, hoping to rectify her words, but still chuckling. Miss Fortune let out a huff, but did not press her further, while Sona gave a small, inaudible chuckle at their antics.

"You're right Riven, our outfits are a tad bit odd, but they were made to be silly. It fits this place. And you will have to choose a fitting outfit too." Sona calmly stated, flabbergasting Riven.

"Wait, Sona? You can talk?! How?!" Riven questioned, very surprised at the revelation to say the least.

"Oh, I guess we forget to mention that," Sona directed to Miss Fortune. MF simply shrugged in response.

"Didn't seem that important at the time, and I forgot anyways."

"Hmm. Well anyways, Riven, I can't normally, but while I'm in this game, I can. The machine we used to log in, the helmet thing, reads and tracks our thoughts, including our mental words as well. That allows the game to mimic what my voice would be like in reality."

"So the game basically gives you an artificial voice? That's interesting."

"Yup. Anyways, as I said, you will have to change your outfit to fit in, as well. You might as well do it now, so you're not running around in your regular clothes and appearance all the time."

"Okay. Uh...how am I supposed to do that exactly."

"It's actually quite easy. Just think about the appearance you want and imagine having it. It will appear on you if you focus on it hard enough."

 _Okay then. Hmm, what do I want_ , Riven thought as she closed her eyes. _Hmm. I can't really think of anything... It has to be something colorful, so I guess I can have something weird. Maybe something simple like...like green hair? Yeah, why not. I always wondered what I would look like with green hair as a kid._

Riven concentrated hard on the thought, attempting to will it into existence. A moment later, she opened her eyes, hoping that she did it.

She pulled down a loose strand from her head to examine its color and found that it was not the pale white she was used to. Instead, it had a emerald hue, much to her delight.

"Cool. I didn't think it would work for me at first."

"Yup. Like Sona said, it's pretty easy to do," MF agreed. "Though, I have to ask what's with the green hair?"

"It's something I thought I would look cool in. ...Don't judge me, you have pink hair."

MF frowned at Riven's return.

"Bubblegum. I have bubblegum colored hair, not pink. There's a difference. And I don't really care that you have green hair, I was just curious. Anyways, hurry up and customize your outfit and weapon. You will get better armor and weapons later, but for now, you still have a beginner's outfit."

"Yeah alright, I'm doing it." Riven closed her eyes again.

 _Now what do I want for an outfit..._

She tried to come up with multiple ideas, but none of them stood out She thought again about what she liked as a kid, and remembered that one time, she had wanted to be a knight from Noxus's more primitive age, since they were strong, and what she had always wanted to grow up to be like.

Yeah, that could work she supposed, well except for the fact that the knights wore full metal armor and it was not particularly the most comfortable or versatile outfit to be honest.

But she could modify it to whatever she liked, right? So she could make it much more suitable for her tastes. Thinking on it a little, she managed to come up with an outfit that she figured would be much better, while at the same time being somewhat practical.

Once done, she took a quick check to see if it was the way she envisioned it to be, before once again closing her eyes to finish the last thing her outfit needed: a weapon.

Creating another sword was the most difficult part of this process. She knew the basics of what she wanted, a heavy sword like her usual weapon, but she did not know what modifications to make to it. She took a few moments more to think on what her sword would look like, and eventually she was able to envision a double-edged sword to her liking, similar to her usual sword in size and weight.

She opened her eyes to examine her outfit. Satisfied, she tested the new sword that lied on the ground next to her. Picking it up, she felt the heavy, but familiar weight in her hands.

"Not bad," MF approved, "Could be better with bubblegum hair though."

Sona rolled her eyes and her companion. "Aside from the bubblegum hair thing, MF is right, you did good on your outfit. The sword's pretty cool too. Well then, now that you have your outfit and everything, I think you're ready to actually play the game, Riven."

"I guess so. I mean, I still don't know exactly what I'll be doing."

"It's not that hard, just follow me and Sona. And hit stuff. You'll learn along the way. Now come on, let's get out this low level forest. I want to get some stuff done."

Miss Fortune started walking out, with Sona and Riven following. After several minutes, they reached the end of the dense forest. Miss Fortune stopped them, as they walked onto a cliff.

MF gave a whistle as she looked on a valley that lied in front of her. "Well, that's a view."

A dark blue river cut through the valley, leading to a giant neon city, lit up with spectacular lights. Weird glowing birds flew through the sky, and other strange native animals roamed the valley. Riven gasped as some large flying beast flew past them, diving into the valley, only adding to the experience. It was quite fantastic to say the least.

"That city there, is where we need to go. Are you ready to head out?" Sona asked.

Riven nodded in reply, still taking in the scenery.

"Alright then, let's go. Welcome to the Arcade, Riven."

* * *

 **Author's notes**

 **Okay, some information about this story:**

 **1\. The Arcade is basically a MMORPG, but without set classes. It will kinda be like a sandbox MMO, like Archeage or something akin to it.**

 **2\. I will add additional characters later on in the story (Riot established Arcade characters as well as my own unofficial ones), but for now, we will stick with Riven.**

 **3\. I may or may not add relationships. I don't know if I want to for this story. Let me know how you guys feel on the matter, and I'll decide later on.**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed!**


	2. Chapter 2: Baby's First RPG Experience

"So you really want me to kill this pig?" Riven wasn't really sure that she wanted to, though. The pig was so cute and innocent looking, it made her feel bad to have to put down the little creature.

"Yeah, you have to kill things in this game to get stronger, and this is one of the easiest creatures. Once you finish it, you will get experience and copper." Miss Fortune clarified.

"Experience? Erm, I'm not quite sure if you noticed, but I _kinda_ already know how to kill things," Riven returned, confused at Miss Fortune's words.

"Oh we know you do, Riven, but it's a different term inside the game. See, 'experience' here is required to level up. You can't use your regular skills and abilities until you gain more levels, and you need the 'experience' that you gain from doing quests and killing stuff to do so," Sona calmly expanded, hoping to clarify things for Riven further.

"So I can't do anything until I kill a lot of creatures? That's kinda lame," Riven muttered with a frown.

"Relax, you'll get there eventually. Me and Sona are already level 8, and we only played these characters for like, an hour or so. Hell, I bet we'd reach level 20 within two hours if we wanted too." MF stated.

"Hmm, so it will take me about an hour to catch up to you guys? That's not too bad, I guess. Wait, what level am I now?"

"Well you just started, so you're still level 1; although, you'd be halfway to level two already if you'd _just kill the pig_." MF repeated, returning to the matter at hand.

"But...I don't want to. It's a only a little baby." Riven then grabbed the pig's face and directed it towards Miss Fortune. "See. Look how cuuute he is."

The pig, for it's part, stuck it's tongue out and squealed, only adding to its appeal and causing Sona to giggle, while Miss Fortune only rolled her eyes at the sight.

"Yeah, yeah. I get it, it's a cute little thing. But who cares, there's hundreds of them in the field." She waved her arms around her to emphasize her words. Sure enough, there was a ton of pigs around them, all seeming to be exact clones of each other.

"And heck, this one will respawn after you kill it and it can't feel any pain anyways. So can you please just kill it so we can move on. You can't do anything in the city until you do so, because you need to be at least level 5 before you can get the first quest."

Miss Fortune sighed and cupped her face with a hand in exasperation. "I just don't see how you are such a wuss about it. I mean aren't you Noxians supposed to be bloodthirsty warmongers? You're kinda disgracing the image, you know. Even Sona killed a couple of pigs without hesitation, and she's one of the most pacifist people I know. You know what, here, I'll just kill this first one to show you how simple it is."

Miss Fortune aimed her gun at the pig, but Riven stopped her before she could fire.

"Wait no! I'll...I'll do it. And for the record, Noxians _aren't_ savages. Most of our people aren't any worse than you Bilgewater pirates. There are just a few outliers that _unfortunately_ stereotype us as a whole," Riven returned with a frown before turning back to the pig. "Anyways, I wouldn't even have a problem killing it, but something about its eyes reminds of a sick puppy that I had to put down as a kid. It's just hard for me, okay?"

MF lowered her gun. "Yeah, well, it's not that puppy. It's a fake creature that was meant to be killed. Now please, just hit it already."

Riven sighed and turned to the pig, raising her sword.

"Sorry, little pig." She apologized as she swung her heavy sword on its small body. It gave a sharp squeal before disintegrating into shimmering particles.

"Wait, what happened to it's body? What are those... _sparkles_?" Riven asked, perplexed at the display.

"Ah that, my dear noob, is what's known as _loot_. Loot drops off of pretty much anything that you kill, and you can get gear and other important items from it. Touch it to see what you got." MF instructed.

"Noob?" Riven asked as she moved closer to said loot.

"It means newbie. Basically, she is calling you a new player, although it can also be an insult, kinda like calling someone incompetent. I fear she is leaning towards the latter usage, unfortunately," Sona said, clarifying, and MF snickered, implying that she was in fact going for the latter usage.

Riven simply rolled her eyes at the words. Of course MF was making fun of her for not knowing anything about this game despite only playing for 20 minutes. Regardless, she didn't respond back and instead touched the particles, which immediately transformed into some coins and a pair of boots.

"What? Why did the pig give boots and money? How does that even work? It didn't have anywhere to store this crap."

"Uh, don't question it. It's not supposed to make sense, and if it did, it wouldn't be fun. Anyways, you should equip those boots and take the money. You'll need it later when we get in the city," MF instructed.

Riven, who was still clueless on how to actually equip things by the game's methods, attempted to take off her current boots to put the new ones on. She was stopped immediately by Miss Fortune, who was looking at her as if she was stupid.

"What are you doing? That's not how you equip stuff. Haven't I taught you anything?"

Riven deadpanned.

"No! You haven't told me a single thing! You have just had me do things as we went along. I didn't even know what loot or experience was 10 seconds ago!" Riven argued back, causing MF to raise her hands in defense.

"Ok, ok. Maybe I forgot to mention some things. Whatever, mistakes were made. Anyways, you have to open up your character menu to equip crap. Here, do it like this." MF did a gesture in the air which opened some kind of floating menu. Riven repeated the action and pulled her own menu up.

"Woah," she exclaimed, "Now what do I do?"

Sona decided to take over on the instructions, and moved closer to instruct Riven, "First, tap the tab that says 'Character'."

Riven followed the instruction, pulling up the character menu. She noticed that this new menu had several slots with different icons. Each icon except the chest plate, boots, and leggings were empty however, implying that she needed to gather equipment to fill the slots.

"Ok, now what?"

"Do you see the boots icon?"

Riven found it and nodded in confirmation.

"Good. That is where you will place your new boots. Now, keep that menu open and go back to the first menu. After that, open up the 'Inventory' menu. That is where everything you collect is found."

Riven complied and opened her inventory. A lot of empty slots were pulled up. She found the boots in one of it's few occupied slots, and also saw how much money she had on her.

"Alright, you see your boots?" Riven nodded. "Great. now tap them, and a little menu should pop up. Use it to equip them."

Riven did so, and saw the boots moved out of her inventory into her character menu. She gasped as her current boots sparkled and transformed into the new boots.

"And that's how you equip stuff. Over time you will get even stronger armor. Those boots will be a good start though."

"Alright, now that's taken care of, can we please move onto other things? We've been here for half an hour already, and I'm getting bored," MF complained.

"Well, you wanted me to join. So you're going to have to deal with me having to learn everything first," Riven replied.

"Yeah, yeah. Doesn't mean I have to like it, though. Anyways, let's move on. I want to get you to at least level 5 before we call it for the night."

Riven nodded, and closed her menus.

"Can you please not take 5 years to kill the next thing."

Riven rolled her eyes at MF, but nodded again.

"Good. Now let's go murder some more innocent animals!"


	3. Chapter 3: Home Sweet Home

It took another half an hour for Riven to finally hit level 5.

She had quit sparing the lives of _every_ woodland creature she saw, but it still took some time for her to get there.

Not to say that it was wholly unexpected, what with her still being inexperienced and everything. MF and Sona completely understood that it would take Riven a bit of time to adjust to the game, but it still felt like a long while to them.

"Finally," MF started as she saw Riven hit level 5.

"We can take you to the first major city now. And you can do your first quest. Well, the first significant one anyways. Killing pigs and stuff isn't that important."

"Okay. What will I have to do for this quest?" Riven asked, curious as to what made this quest so serious when compared to the pigs.

"You just...uh, you just...I...don't really remember," MF finally admitted with a sigh. "Do you, Sona?"

Sona nodded with a chuckle. "Yes. The first quest in the city has you go kill the thieving goblins on the other side of the forest. I don't know how you could forgot them, Sarah. They were the first things to kill you when we first started."

"Oh yeah, that's right. Damn, how'd I forget those little bastards. The stupid things back-shanked my ass when I was collecting some herbs," MF remembered with a scowl.

"Uh, what are goblins, and should I have to worry about them shanking me?" Riven interrupted.

"They are little green humanoid creatures, Riven. Somewhat like yordles, but _a lot_ less social and even less friendly."

"Oh. Alright. Wait, what about the shanking?" Riven asked with slight fear in her voice. She'd rather not die to anything of the sorts, if she doesn't have to. Not to say she is scared of dying. Of course she isn't afraid of dying, she is a trained ex-Noxian soldier.

No, she'd just rather not face the sure to come embarrassment and annoyance as a result of MF's teasing if she were to die to them.

"Don't worry about that! I'll keep you safe from any harm. And the only reason Sarah died was because she got a bit greedy for some rare herbs and left my healing range," Sona reassured, quelling Riven's fear.

"Okay, that sounds good. So, are we going to the city now?"

"Yeah, we'll take you to the city now," MF supplied. "But you'll have to wait 'til tomorrow for the first quest. I have some official Bilgewater shit to do tonight, and Sona has to get some rest for some early morning matches, so we can't help you, unless of course you want to do it solo."

"Uh no thanks. I'd rather take it safe and wait. I'm not too sure I am capable enough to do things solo yet."

"Yeah, you probably aren't," MF agreed with a nod. "At any rate, let's go already. Daylight's wasting."

Riven raised a brow at that, chuckling to herself, as from what she could tell, there was no actual daylight cycle, what with the sky staying the same perpetual dark it has been since she started. However, she knew MF was just being figurative and gave no response, deciding to just follow the two as they lead out of the forest they were in towards the massive city on the horizon.

* * *

"Ah, finally home!" MF stated with a warm sigh, as she reached her destination. It had spent them several minutes to get to the city of Aldverill, and another couple of minutes to navigate through the complex neon city, but at long last, they reached it. Their headquarters.

"Here we are, Riven, our Guild Headquarters. Or at least it's _what_ _will be_ our headquarters once I fill in the forms to officially create the guild. But at any rate, its home!" MF gleefully announced, opening the door to the establishment. As she did, Riven held her breath in anticipation. From what she saw of the the city, she was sure that the place would be just as spectacular as the outside was, and couldn't wait to see what it was like.

However, much to her disappointment, the headquarters were quite...lackluster.

The establishment was barely furnished and what few furniture there was to find was bland and unremarkable to say the slightest.

"Uh…" Riven started, voicing her disappointment. MF arched a brow at her, however, pausing her in her speech.

"What? Were you expecting something amazingly breathtaking?" She questioned with a grunt.

Riven frowned and shuffled her feet uncomfortably. "Well...I kinda did."

MF chuckled at that, however. "Well sucks for you, this is all we have for now."

Sona for her part, rolled her eyes are her redhead partner, and decided to explain further for their new companion. " _What Sarah means to say_ , is that we are still fairly new to this game, just as you are. As such, we have only accumulated enough money to purchase this establishment, as well as the few furniture we have. We can't quite upgrade it much at the moment, but when we can, believe me, we will."

"Oh, I see," Riven murmured. "Anyways, this is our headquarters, right? What will we be doing here?"

"Uh, not much. It's just a place to chill out and relax while we're not doing stuff," MF explained.

"So just like our dorms at the Institute?"

"Yup, exactly," MF answered, as she moved over to the nearby sofa.

"Okay, cool. So what now?"

MF chuckled as she sat down. "Now I have to get to the other stuff I told you about earlier. Political crap waits for none, and if I don't get it taken care of tonight, I'm gonna to have a lot of problems later, so I'm logging off for now. Sona will have to show you to your room and stuff." As she spoke, she pulled up the logout button on her menu, allowing it to float in the air for a moment.

"Anything else you need me for before I go?"

Riven thought about the question for a moment before shaking her head. "Not that I know of."

"Alright, I'll see you later then. You can do whatever you want, but don't stay on too long. I don't want your real life body lying in my living room all night while you explore the game."

Riven smirked, but complied with a nod as MF pressed the logout button, effectively disappearing. With her gone, Sona cleared her throat, gathering Riven's attention.

"Ready to see your room now, Riven?" She proceeded to ask.

"Yeah sure, let's go."

"Alright, follow me."

Sona then lead Riven on, taking the warrior threw one of the few hallways connected to the main room. Eventually, they reached a room at the end of the hallway, closed off by its door. Sona opened it, and revealed a small fairly empty space within. Just like the rest of the establishment, the room was barely furnished with just a bed and a dresser, and had no interesting quality to it.

Noticing Riven's gaze at the emptiness within, Sona spoke up. "Sorry it's not much…"

Riven shook her head, "No no. It's fine. I'm actually kinda used to simple spaces. Not much different from my dorm. It's just something to improve one day I guess."

Sona smiled. "Yup, that's the spirit!"

"Heh, yeah. So, do you have to go now?"

"Oh yeah! Yes I kinda do. But before I go, I just want to say thank you for doing all this with us. We're going to be the best of friends, and I can't wait until our guild comes together!" Sona exclaimed with glee in her voice, as she proceeded to log off. Riven for her part, merely nodded awkwardly and waved Sona off.

She's never been 'best of friends' with anyone before, and had no real clue how to respond to that. But she supposed it would be interesting to find out what having good friends would be like.

But first things first, she realized she needs to figure more about this game, and as such, she left her room to go explore the world outside…

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

 **Ah, it's been awhile since a update, sorry. I'm going to try to get back to writing more though, especially with the new Arcade skins being released soon.**

 **Oh and with this release, I also updated the previous two chapters, just as a heads up.**


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